Swingable comb for closing magnetic switch for controlling hot rinse water in a dishwasher

ABSTRACT

A dishwashing machine having a hot water rinse compartment through which a train of dish-carrying dollies is moved and a switch actuating comb is mounted in the compartment and has depending tines that are swung in one direction by a dish basket carried by a dolly so as to close a magnetic switch that opens a solenoid valve for spraying rinse water onto the dishes. The comb tines are so mounted that they can freely swing in the opposite direction should it become necessary to reverse the movement of a dolly and its dish basket in the rinse compartment and the magnetic switch will not be closed and neither will the tines be damaged.

United States Patent Noren [54] SWINGABLE COMB FOR CLOSING MAGNETICSWITCH FOR CONTROLLING HOT RINSE WATER IN A DISHWASHER [72] Inventor:Tore I-I. Noren, 1350 Donner Avenue, San Francisco, Calif. 94124 22Filed: Jan. 11, 1971 [21] Appl.No.: 105,471

[52] US. Cl ..200/6l.4l,- 335/205, 134/48 [51] Int. Cl. ..H0lh 3/16 [58]Field of Search ..200/6 l .41; 335/205 [56] References Cited UNITEDSTATES PATENTS I 2,864,387 12/1958 Federighiet al ..'.....l34/46 [4 1June 6, 1972 2/ l 962 Wintriss ..200/6l .41

Primary Examiner-Robert A. Schaefer I Assistant Examiner-M. GinsburgAttorney-William R. Piper [57] ABSTRACT A dishwashing machine having ahot water rinse compartment through which a train of dish-carryingdollies is moved and a switch actuating comb is mounted in thecompartment and has depending tines that are swung in one direction by adish basket carried by a-dolly so as to close a magnetic switch thatopens a solenoid valve for spraying rinse water onto the dishes. Thecomb tines are so mounted that they can freely swing in the oppositedirection should it become necessary to reverse the movement of a dollyand its dish basket in the rinse compartment and the magnetic switchwill not be closed and neither will the tines be damaged.

4 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures PATENTEDJun 6 I972 3, 668,348

SHEET 10F 2 INVENTOR. TORE H. NOREN Ma M4 7%? 2 M ATTORNEY PATENTEDJUN5:912

SHEET 2 [IF 2 INVENTOR. TORE H. NOREN ATTORNEY SWINGABLE COMB FORCLOSING MAGNETIC SWITCH FOR CONTROLLING HOT RINSE WATER IN A DISHWASHERBACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention Some dishwashershave an oval table for supporting a train of dollies on whichdish-carrying baskets are removably mounted. These dollies are movedthrough the dishwasher where the dishes are washed and rinsed. Hot wateris used for the rinsing of the dishes and it is necessary to open thehot water valve only when there are dishes in the rinse compartment tobe rinsed in order to conserve on the quantity of hot water used. A combwith tines has been used in the rinse compartment and the comb willclose a magnetic switch for opening the hot water valve when the comb isswung in one direction by a dish-carrying basket as the dolly moves thebasket through the'rinse compartment. The tines of the comb are free tobe swung in the opposite direction without effecting the closing of themagnetic switch or damaging the tines, should it become necessary toreverse the movement of a dolly for a short distance past the tines forany reason.

2. Description of the Prior Art A U.S. Pat. No. 2,668,548 was issued onFeb. 9, 1954 to George J. Federighi and Tore H. Noren on a MagneticMechanism for Controlling Flow of Rinse Water in a Dishwashing Machine.This patent discloses a dish-carrying basket movable through adishwashing compartment and one or more dish-rinsing compartments. Amercury switch is mounted outside of the dishwasher and a trip ismounted within the machine and is actuated by a dish-carrying basket andcarries a magnet for controlling the opening and closing of the switch.When the trip is in normal position, a magnet is disposed close to themercury switch for holding the switch open. An electrically operatedrinse water valve is connected to the switch and remains closed so longas the switch remains open.

It is vital that the final rinse water be turned on only when the dishesare in a position to be given a final rinse in order to save on thequantity of hot water used. The dish basket will actuate the trip forclosing the switch that opens the hot water valve so that the dishes canbe rinsed.

Another U.S. Pat. No. 2,864,387 was issued on Dec. 16, I95 8 to the sametwo above-mentioned patentees and it pertains to a Dishwashing Machinewith Automatic Final Rinse Control. An endless conveyor is disclosed inthis patent for conveying dishes through the dishwasher rather thanusing dollies for supporting dish-carrying baskets. A comb with tines isplaced in the rinse compartment and any dishes being carried by theupper reach of the endless conveyor will strike one or more tines andswing the comb in one direction for causing the latter to close amercury switch and open a valve controlling the flow of hot water intothe rinse compartment. No mechanism is shown in this patent forpermitting the tines to swing in the opposite direction because therewas no need for this since the upper reach of the endless dish-carryingconveyor travelled in only one direction for conveying the dishesthrough the dishwasher including the rinse compartment.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of my invention is to provide a combin the rinsing compartment of a dishwasher that will be swung in onedirection for opening the valve for the hot water when the comb tinesare contacted by a dish-carrying basket as it is moved by its supportingdolly through the rinse compartment. A train of dollies is mounted formovement along an oval table that will successively move the dollies oneat a time into the dishwasher and through the rinse compartment. Thetines are so mounted on the comb that they are free to swing in anopposite direction should it become necessary to move the dollies anddish-carrying baskets in a reverse direction through the rinsecompartment. Each tine is removably secured to the comb and it may bereadily replaced by a new tine in case it becomes damaged.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a top plan view of an ovaltable adapted to feed a train of dish-carrying dollies through adishwashing machine. The train of dollies and the endless track forsupporting the dollies are not shown in this figure.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged transverse section through the final rinsecompartment of the dishwasher and is taken substantially along the line2-2 of FIG. 1. A comb is illustrated in this figure as having tines thatlie in the path of the moving dishcarrying baskets so as to be actuatedthereby for swinging the comb to close an electric switch that will openthe rinse water valve for rinsing the dishes. A dolly and adish-carrying basket are shown in this figure.

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal section through the final rinse compartment ofthe dishwasher and is taken substantially along the line 33 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged transverse section through a portion of the combthat controls the opening of the hot water valve for the final rinsingof the dishes. It is taken along the line 4-4 of FIG. 2 when lookingfrom the right hand side of the figure. This is looking from theopposite direction to that of FIG. 3 where one is looking from the lefthand side of FIG. 2.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT In carrying out my invention Imake use of a dishwashing machine that is schematically shown in a topplan view in FIG. 1, and it includes a power wash compartment A, a powerrinse compartment B and a final rinse compartment C. I do not wish to beconfined to any particular type of dishwasher and it is not vital to theinvention that the dishwasher be provided with both a power rinse and afinal rinse compartment. All that is necessary is that my invention beplaced to control the flow of hot water in the final rinse so that thehot rinse water is turned on only when there are dishes in thecompartment to be rinsed.

7 An oval table D is associated with the dishwasher and it is preferablymade in sections as shown in FIG. I, of the type shown in my U.S. Pat.No. 3,447,491, issued June 3, 1969, entitled Sectional Oval-Shaped Tablefor Endless Conveyor for Dishwasher; and in my U.S. Pat. No. 3,511,192,issued May 12, 1970, on a Sectional Oval-Shaped Table with Side Wallsand U-Shaped Tongues Interconnecting Adjacent Sections. The sectionaloval table D is provided with an endless pair of dolly guiding rails,not shown in FIG. 1, but shown in transverse cross section at E and F inFIG. 2. In the enlarged longitudinal section through the final rinsecompartment C, see FIG. 3, I show one of the dolly guide rails F. Eachguide rail is provided with a longitudinally extending groove in whichdolly-supporting wheels 1 and 2 ride. These wheels support a dolly,shown by dot-dash lines at G in FIG. 2, and the dolly carries adish-retaining basket H, also indicated by dot-dash lines. Theparticular type of dolly that is preferably used is shown in my U.S.Pat. No. 3,550,755, issued Dec. 29, 1970, on an Endless Conveyor for aDishwasher with Links Interconnecting Adjacent Dollies. I do not wish,however, to be confined to any particular type of dolly or dish-carryingbasket. Any means may be used for moving the basket H through the finalrinse compartment C and my invention pertains to a novel type of combthat will be contacted and swung by the moving basket and the swingingof the comb will close the electric switch which will open the hot watervalve and direct rinse water against the dishes for rinsing them.

In FIGS. 2 and 3, I show a comb, indicated generally at J, as beingmounted in the final rinse compartment C of the dishwasher. The combconsists of a number of tines 3, see also FIG. 4, that are mounted intubular supports 4. The latter are welded or otherwise secured tosleeves 5 which in turn are rotatably mounted in abutting relation on atransversely extending shaft 6. The ends of the shaft 6 are received inbearings 7 which in turn are secured to the side walls 8 of the finalrinse compartment C. Each tine 3 has its upper end projecting above itstubular support 4 and a cotter pin 9 is inserted through an opening inthe tine and it rests on the top of the support for removably supportingthe tine. The lower portion of the tine that is contacted by the basketI-I may be provided with a plastic or rubber sleeve that will protectthe tine. If any tine becomes damaged it is a simple matter to removeits cotter pin 9 and slip the tine out of its tubular support 4 and thensubstitute a new tine for the damaged one.

I will now describe how the swinging of the tines 3 by a moving basketl-I will actuate a mechanism for closing a switch that will open a hotwater valve. Both FIGS. 2 and 4 show the shaft 6 provided with a pair ofarms K that are keyed to the shaft so that a swinging of the arms willrock the shaft. A transversely extending bar L is connected to the twoarms K by threaded shanks 11 that extend through the bar and have theirother ends connected to the arms. It is possible to adjust the bar Ltoward or away from the arms K by adjusting the nuts 12 and 13 on thethreaded shanks 11, these nuts being placed on opposite sides of the baras is clearly shown in FIG. 4. A lock nut 14, also mounted on eachthreaded shank ll, aids in securing the shanks to the arms K. The bar Lcan be adjusted on the threaded shanks 1 1 so that the weight of the barwill counterbalance the weight of the tines 3 and sleeves 4.

It will be noted from FIG. 4 that the arms K, threaded shanks 1 1 andbar L extend off at an angle from the axis of the shaft 6 instead ofdepending vertically in a downward direction from the shaft. This is dueto the fact that the weight of the arms K, threaded shanks l1 and bar Lis counterbalanced not only by the tines 3 and sleeves 4, but also by anarm M that is keyed to the shaft 6 and extends vertically above theshaft and carries a threaded horizontal shank 15'that projects to theopposite side of the shaft from that of the bar L. A magnet holdingcasing N is mounted at the outer end of the shank l5 and it contains ahorse shoe magnet, shown by dotted lines P in FIG. 2. The casing N isheld in adjusted position on the shank 15 by nuts 16 and 17 and a locknut 18 secures the shank in the arm M, see FIG. 4.

. It is important that the magnet holding casing N and the magnet P bepositioned near to the top wall 19 of the final rinse compartment C whenthe magnet is in normal position, see FIG. 3. The reason for this is sothat the magnet can act on a magnetizable arm 20 of an electric switch Qto hold this arm out of contact with the other stationary arm 21 of theswitch and thus normally hold the switch in open position. The bar L canbe adjusted on the threaded shanks 11 so as to cause the bar to bedisposed to the left of the shaft 6, as shown in FIG. 3, and the magnetP will be disposed to the right of the shaft and positioned under theswitch Q to maintain it in open position. When the bar L is in thisposition and if there is no basket H of dishes moving through the finalrinse compartment C, the tines 3 will hang straight down and will lie ina vertical plane as shown by the full line position of the tines.

In FIG. 3, I show a dolly G with a dish-containing basket H moving fromthe right to the left. The basket I-I will strike the tines 3 of thecomb J and swing them in a clockwise direction about the shaft 6 as acenter. The sleeves 5 will freely rotate on the shaft 6 as the tines 3are swung by the basket l-I, contacting therewith. The swinging tineswill have no effect on moving the transverse bar L until they actuallystrike the bar as is clearly shown by dot-dash lines in FIG. 3. Whenthis takes place, the bar L will be swung from its full to its dot-dashline position and the magnet P and its housing N will be moved away fromthe electric switch Q. The magnetizable switch arm 20 will be freed fromits magnetic attraction to the magnet P and it will swing to contactwith the stationary switch arm 21 and close an electric circuit to opena solenoid controlled valve R, see FIG. 3. A main switch 22' has alreadybeen closed which will connect the solenoid valve R to a current source,not shown, when the switch Q is closed.

Again referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, it will be seen that the hot waterpipe S leads to a spray head T in the final rinse compartment, and thisspray head has outlet spray nozzles '22. Dotdash lines 23 indicate howthe hot rinse water will be sprayed onto the dishes only when a basket Hof dishes is actually mov' ing through the rinse compartment. As soon asthe dish basket H clears the tines 3 of the comb J, the tines will swingback into a vertical depending position and will force the bar L so thatits weight will swing it from the dot-dash line position of FIG. v3 backinto the full line position in the same figure. This will swing themagnet P and its housing N in a counterclockwise direction from thedot-dash to the full line position. The magnet P will again attract themagnetizable arm 20 of the switch Q to open it and permit thespring-biased solenoid valve R to close and stop any further flow of hotrinse water from the spray head T.

One important feature of the invention is the free swinging of the tines3 in a counter-clockwise direction when looking at FIG. 3, should itbecome necessary to move the dolly G and basket H in a reversedirection, i.e. from the left to the right in this Figure. The tines 3will not be damaged through such swinging movement and they will notcontact with the bar'L during such a counter-clockwise movement. FIG. 3shows by dot-dash lines how the tines 3 of the comb J are free to swingto the right from the full line position should it become necessary toreverse the direction of movement of the dolly G and basket H, whichwill cause the right hand edge of the basket to contact and swing thetines. In this manner the tines 3 will not be damaged nor will the shankl5 and the magnet P be moved when it becomes necessary to move thebasket I-! in a reverse direction for any reason.

I claim:

1. In a device having supporting means including bearings:

a. a horizontal shaft rockably supported in said bearings;

b. a plurality of sleeves mounted to freely rotate on said shaft;

c. a substantially vertical tubular support connected to each sleeve;

d. a tine removably secured in each tubular support and depending in asubstantially vertical position;

e. a pair of arms keyed to said shaft so that a swinging of the armswill rock the shaft;

f. a bar paralleling said shaft;

g. means for adjustably connecting said bar to said arms so that aswinging of the bar about the axis of said shaft will rock the shaft;

h. a shank extending from said shaft and being swingable in an are whenthe shaft is rocked; I

i. a magnet supported at the outer end of said shank;

j. the means connecting said bar to said arms being adjustable forpositioning the bar the desired distance from said shaft for holdingsaid shank in the desired angular position and for spacing said bar fromthe normal depending position of said tines, said bar counterbalancingthe weight of said shank and magnet;

k. whereby a swinging of one or more tines in one direction about saidshaft and toward said bar will strike the bar and swing it for rockingthe shaft and moving said magnet away from its normal position, saidtines being free to swing in an opposite direction and away from saidbar without effecting any movement of said shaft, shank and magnet.

2. The combination as set forth in claim 1: and in which a. each tinehas its upper end projecting a short distance above the top of itstubular support; and

b. a cotter pin is removably disposed in a transverse opening near thetop of the tine and rests on top of the tubular support for removablyconnecting the tine to its support.

3. The combination as set forth in claim 1: and in which a. the meansfor adjustably connecting said bar to said arms includes a threadedshank connected to each arm and extending radially from said shaft;

b. said bar having openings through which said threaded shanks extend;and

c. nuts mounted on said threaded shanks and being adjustable forpositioning said bar the desired distance from said shaft.

4. The combination as set forth in claim 1: and in which a. the sleeveson said shaft abut each other and the anus that are keyed to the shaft,abut the opposite ends of the row of sleeves for holdihg them and saidtines from any movement with respect to the length of the shaft.

1. In a device having supporting means including bearings: a. ahorizontal shaft rockably supported in said bearings; b. a plurality ofsleeves mounted to freely rotate on said shaft; c. a substantiallyvertical tubular support connected to each sleeve; d. a tine removablysecured in each tubular support and depending in a substantiallyvertical position; e. a pair of arms keyed to said shaft so that aswinging of the arms will rock tHe shaft; f. a bar paralleling saidshaft; g. means for adjustably connecting said bar to said arms so thata swinging of the bar about the axis of said shaft will rock the shaft;h. a shank extending from said shaft and being swingable in an arc whenthe shaft is rocked; i. a magnet supported at the outer end of saidshank; j. the means connecting said bar to said arms being adjustablefor positioning the bar the desired distance from said shaft for holdingsaid shank in the desired angular position and for spacing said bar fromthe normal depending position of said tines, said bar counterbalancingthe weight of said shank and magnet; k. whereby a swinging of one ormore tines in one direction about said shaft and toward said bar willstrike the bar and swing it for rocking the shaft and moving said magnetaway from its normal position, said tines being free to swing in anopposite direction and away from said bar without effecting any movementof said shaft, shank and magnet.
 2. The combination as set forth inclaim 1: and in which a. each tine has its upper end projecting a shortdistance above the top of its tubular support; and b. a cotter pin isremovably disposed in a transverse opening near the top of the tine andrests on top of the tubular support for removably connecting the tine toits support.
 3. The combination as set forth in claim 1: and in which a.the means for adjustably connecting said bar to said arms includes athreaded shank connected to each arm and extending radially from saidshaft; b. said bar having openings through which said threaded shanksextend; and c. nuts mounted on said threaded shanks and being adjustablefor positioning said bar the desired distance from said shaft.
 4. Thecombination as set forth in claim 1: and in which a. the sleeves on saidshaft abut each other and the arms that are keyed to the shaft, abut theopposite ends of the row of sleeves for holding them and said tines fromany movement with respect to the length of the shaft.